“Serena?” An unfamiliar but calm voice called out to me. I groaned. I couldn’t open my eyes.
“Serena?” The voice called out again. Suddenly, I fell back asleep.
I woke up again, this time I was able to open my eyes. My body felt very sore. A nurse and a doctor stood over me. I felt something cold on my chest.
“Serena?” the doctor said as he lifted his stethoscope. That’s what the cold thing was on my chest. I nodded, still confused about why I was in a hospital.
“By the way, I’m your doctor, Robert Cullen,” he said while smiling and writing something down on his clipboard. His skin was fare and his hair was a contrasting jet black. His eyes were a beautiful shade of amber.
“Why am I here? What happened to me?” I managed to say after chugging down the cup of water the nurse had given me.
“You got in a really bad car accident with one of your friends. You suffered a concussion, numerous cuts and scratches, and lost most of your memory. It’ll take months of therapy to get your memory back. But otherwise, your vitals look fine,” he said while examining me.
“What?!? I got in a car accident?”
“Yes. Now, don’t be worried…”
“How can I not be worried?”
“Like I said, all you need is a therapist to help you get back to normal.”
“Ohh. How long have I been unconscious?”
“Only for about a week. It’s only October 24th. Well, I have to record your progress in the computer, so just sit back and relax. I’ll be back to tell you who your therapist is going to be,” he said. They both left the room and rested my head on the soft pillow. I laid there silently for a few seconds before I heard a girl's voice called out to me.
“Serena? Is that you? “
“Yeah. Who are you?” I asked and watched as the pale blue blinds separating me from the other person got pulled back. A girl about my age with brown, wavy hair and ivory skin stood on crutches with a big, grey cast on her left leg. She wore a blue t-shirt and a black skirt. She slowly walked across the room.
“Don’t you remember me?” she asked while trying to balance.
“No, I’m sorry,” I said while staring into her bright green eyes. They went dim and her smile faded.
“Are you serious? It’s me. Mary Rose,” she said shocked.
“I’m really sorry, I just don’t remember you. I don’t remember a lot of things right now,” I said. She looked down. I saw a tear fall to the ground, “you can sit next to me if you want to,” I said while patting the bed. She smiled a little bit. She leaned her crutches against the wall and sat down on the edge of the bed.
“They’re letting me go today.”
“That’s cool. I have a question, though.”
“What?”
“Were you the one I was driving with?”
“Yeah.”
“Was I the one driving?”
“Umm, yes.”
“Ohh,” I said and looked down at my scratched up hands. The door opened and Dr. Cullen and the nurse appeared.
“Okay, Serena, we’ve assigned you a therapist to help you get your memories back and help with some of the motor functions you may have lost. Her name is Esme Cullen.”
“Okay. When do I start?” I croaked.
“You’ll have your first session this afternoon. It’ll last about an hour or so, okay?” he said with a warm smile.
“Okay,” I said while laying my head back and closing my eyes.
“Mary Rose, your ride is here to pick you up. Are you ready?” I heard him say to her.
“Yes,” I felt Mary Rose get off the bed. I opened my eyes. She leaned over and gave me a hug. I managed to hug her back.
“I’ll miss you,” she whispered in my ear. I remained silent. I was choking back tears. I wish I could remember who she was. She let go, I closed my eyes, and drifted back to sleep.
I woke up again after what seemed like only a minute, but I looked out the window to see that the sun was setting. The door clicked open.
“Serena? I’m sorry I’m late. I got held up with another patient. I’m Esme Cullen,” a beautiful blonde said while walking over to my bed. She stuck out her hand. I slowly lifted my hand and placed it in hers. Her pale skin felt icy cold. She had the most beautiful blue eyes I had ever seen. She shook my hand as gently as possible.
“ It seems like you can still use your hands. I just need to check if you can use some of your other motor skills. Can you get up for me please?” She said while pushing the swivel tray out of the way. I slid my legs off the bed until my feet were resting on the linoleum floor. There were scratches all over my legs, including a huge gash on my left leg. Esme took my left hand and then put the other on my back and helped me up. I walked slowly across the room. She suddenly let go, but I kept walking.
She ran me through many more tests. All of my motor skills were working properly.
“Okay, Serena, everything seems fine physically. I’ll be back tomorrow to help you with your memory,” she said while writing down a few more things down on her clipboard.
“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow then,” I said tiredly.
“Good night,” she said as she walked away. She closed the door behind her and the lights turned off automatically. I stared out the window at the waning moon. It looked so pretty. I only saw a few bright stars before my eyes closed.
*********************************************************************
Over the course of next three weeks, I went through the same schedule every day.
My first session was slow. Esme was trying to help me remember where I grew up.
“Now, your records show that you lived in Jacksonville, Florida until you were 14, then you moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan,” she said while reading her clipboard. She handed me a picture of a two-story house in the summer, “Now that was your house in Florida. This was your was your house in Michigan,” she said while handing a me picture of a three-story house in a nice neighborhood. I looked at the first picture again. I rested my head back on the pillow.
“Serena, would you come and play football with me in the front yard?” A young girl’s voice asked me. A girl with curly brown hair stood in front of me holding a weathered football.
“Sure,” I said while following the strange girl through the white hallways and to the spacious front yard. The sky was blue and the grass was green. I began to toss the football to the girl. We tossed it back and forth for what seemed like forever. Finally, we ended up rolling and laughing on the lawn, getting leaves stuck in our hair.
“I remember that house,” I stated out loud.
“That’s good,” she said while writing it down on her clipboard, “What about the other house?” I closed my eyes. I was hanging out with a boy, sitting on a dock. I looked behind myself at a three-story house and began to run towards it.
“I remember that one, too,” I said while handing the photos back to her.
“Good!” She said happily. I felt happy, too. But I kept wondering who the girl in the first flashback was. What about the boy? They looked so familiar; I just couldn’t put my finger on who they were. Why had I seen them in my flashbacks?
“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” Esme said. I snapped out of my daze.
“Umm, okay,” I said, a little bit confused about what was going on. Esme left the room and I looked out the window, just like I had done the night before. The moon was no longer waning. It was half full. There were more stars out that night. They looked brighter. A hot tear rolled down my cheek. Why did this have to happen to me? Why did I have to lose my memory? I let my mind wander until my eyes felt droopy and I drifted off to sleep.
“Serena?” I half-opened my eyes. It was still dark outside. Moonlight was filling the room with a pale light. A cold hand was on my arm. Esme.
“What?” I asked while my eyes adjusted.
“Today, during our session, when you had your flashbacks, did you see anybody in them?”
“Yeah.”
“What did you see?”
“In the first one, I saw a girl with curly brown hair and amber eyes, about 14. In the second, a boy with brown hair and green eyes, about 16. Why?”
“Did they look like these two people in these pictures?” She asked while handing me two photos. I was posing with the same two people I saw in my flashbacks.
“Yeah. Who are they?”
“The girl is your sister, Jessica, who is now 22. The guy is a friend of yours, Joe, who is now 27.”
“Ohh. Why did you wanna know?”
“Sometimes people who lose their memory can easily attain them back if they look at an image or a picture, like the pictures of your houses I showed you. Now do you remember anything about these two people?”
“No, nothing came to mind.”
“Well that’s okay. It was worth a shot. We’ll be going through the same routine for the rest of your sessions, okay?” she said. I nodded. She left the room and I laid my head back on the pillow, my stiff neck cracking as I twisted it. I was desperate for more sleep.
By the time I was out of the hospital, I remembered a lot of the memories that I had lost. For example, I could remember growing up in Florida, then moving to Ann Arbor. I could remember going to college at the University of Michigan, where I had majored in Creative Writing and English. I knew I went to the NYU Creative Arts Grad School and that I was in an all girls’ band. I could finally remember all of my favorite music and how to play the guitar again. I could remember all the chords and lyrics to all the songs I wrote and other songs I sang. Playing the guitar made other patients at the hospital seem more cheerful. Unfortunately, the things I couldn’t remember were my friends and family.
************************************************************************
Finally, on November 14, I was released from the hospital. I was told to come back every week for my therapy sessions.
“Thanks so much for helping me so far,” I said to Dr. Cullen and Esme in the lobby.
“No problem. Now, are you sure you can drive in this weather?” Dr. Cullen asked concerned.
“Yes, I’m sure,” I had my black messenger bag slung over my shoulder. I smiled.
“One more thing," he reached behind him and pulled out a red bag with multicolored tissue paper.
“What’s this?” I asked while taking the bag.
“One of your friends dropped it off last week. They wanted us to give it to you when you were dismissed,” he said.
“Thank you,” I said as I hugged them both and left. My convertible VW Bug was parked outside. I smiled. I looked back and saw them smiling as well, holding hands.
I climbed into the car, turned it on, and cranked up the radio. I pulled out one of the gifts in the bag. It was wrapped in purple wrapping paper. Attached to it was a gold envelope with my name written on it in silver pen. I ripped it open. Inside was a Google maps directions to a park in Brooklyn. I punched it into the GPS I found and began to drive.
In all of about twenty minutes, I had driven vampire-fast to that park. I walked over to where the piece of paper told me to go, expecting to find someone there that would bring back my memories.
When I got to the spot, no one was there. I let out a deep breath, feeling anxious. My breath formed a smoke cloud and then it dissipated. It was cold outside. The heaviest thing I wore was a biker jacket. Chills were going up and down my spine.
I sat down on a bench nearby. I pulled out the purple wrapped gift and ripped it open. It was a hot pink and lime green scrapbook. There was a picture of four girls and me standing in front of the Empire State Building, smiling into the sun. I flipped open to the first page and there was a picture of the ivory skinned brunette and me. The wheels in my head began to turn. I pulled out the other gift and ripped it open. It was a blue and silver scrapbook. It had a picture of five guys and me in front of a huge oak tree on the cover.
I flipped through the rest of the two scrapbooks, taking a close look at each picture. By the time I had finished looking at the other scrapbook, I had my memories of my friends and family back. I put the scrapbooks back in the bag quickly and sprinted to my car, jumping in excitedly.
I drove in silence to my apartment building in Williamsburg, listening to Vampire Weekend, anxious, yet excited. I ran up the two flights of stairs to the apartment I shared with Joe. I stopped in front of apartment 4C. I was about to knock on the door, but stopped. I put my ear up to the door. I heard more than one muffled voice.
“…Cullen said it would take months of therapy for her to get her memory back,” a not-so-convincing voice said. Zubin.
“I don’t believe that.” Joe. I could recognize his voice anywhere.
“Neither do I.” Mary Rose. I was glad I could finally remember her.
“Well, you’ll have to believe it sometime.” Rob. I triple knocked on the door. The room went silent. I heard footsteps. I pulled away from the door as it clicked open. Standing in the doorway was Joe and Mary Rose, still wearing her big, gray cast. I threw my arms around both of them. Their reactions were slow, but once they realized who it was, they threw their arms around me. I felt so happy to see them. I let go of them as happy tears rolled down my cheeks. There were tears rolling down Mary Rose’s cheeks as well. We didn’t have to say anything to each other because we knew how the other felt: complete and happy again.
“And you thought it would take months for me to get my memory back,” I said to Zubin in a sarcastic tone.
“But how…” he started. I raised my eyebrow, “you were listening through the door, weren’t you?” I shook my head yes. He smiled. I hugged everyone and then made my way back to Joe and Mary Rose. She hugged me again. Joe put his arms around me.
“You’re cold,” he stated while looking deep into my eyes.
“I don’t care, as long as I’m with you guys, I’ll never be cold,” I said. Everyone chuckled at my Twilight reference. I didn’t care how cheesy or stupid it was, I was right where I belonged and happy about it. Joe wrapped a red cotton blanket around me and I rested my head on his shoulder while he lead me over to the fireplace so I could feel my nose again.
“I missed you,” I whispered in his ear while we sat down in front of the fire. Everyone was talking to each other cheerily.
“I missed you, too, Serena,” he whispered back and kissed the top of my head. He pulled me closer to him and I relaxed, closing my eyes, leaning into his soft, navy blue sweater, smelling the woodsy scent of his Drakkar Noir cologne. I smiled and listened to the calm, sweet melody of Mozart wafting throughout the room from the speakers, the soft murmurings of the people I knew and loved…
